Venice leaders plan to push leisure appeal of airport

Land at the Venice Municipal airport has become known as the city's festival grounds.

HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE

By KIM HACKETT

Published: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 9:31 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 9:31 p.m.

VENICE - City leaders are pinning their hopes for airport development on the "$100 hamburger" economic plan.

Facts

VENICE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT FACTS

It was built in the early 1940s by the United States government to serve as a flight training facility during World War II. At the end of the war, the airport was given to the city of Venice with the stipulation that if it were not used as an airport it would revert back to the U.S. government.

• Located 1.7 miles south of the downtown along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline, on 835 acres.

• About 30 percent of its uses are non-aeronautical, including two restaurants.

• Has a $1.6 million operating budget.

• Projected $1.9 million in annual revenue.

• Pays about $194,000 to city for accounting and other services.

Instead of building a business park, marina or hotel on a 125-acre ribbon of airport land — as called for in earlier years — the council and its economic advisory board decided to focus on marketing the airport as an aviation-friendly place, where leisure pilots will fly in for a $100 hamburger — the true cost of lunch when factoring in jet fuel.

Federal red tape and the dour state of the local economy means there will be no major development on Venice Municipal Airport land anytime soon.

It is an issue that has divided the community in the past when plans emerged for a Marriott Hotel in the midst of the land boom. Some nearby residents oppose anything that will bring in more people or more air traffic to an airport that was built in the middle of a residential area before there were homes.

At a workshop Tuesday to explore options for land that in 2003 was targeted for a business park, the council and its economic advisory board decided to focus on upgrading utilities on the land that has become known as the city's festival grounds, used for the annual Shark's Tooth Festival and a recent Barbecue Bash that lured in flying day-trippers from throughout the state.

"Organizers are looking for improvements in water, sewer, electrical service," Rozansky said. "But the airport cannot simply make those improvements" without a return on investment.

Mayor John Holic said that it would be a small investment with a big payoff.

"All of a sudden wheels start turning," Holic said. We are not going to go from "nothing to a marina" but upgrading the grounds would be a "small step toward future usage."

Long-term plans for airport land are laden with obstacles. The airport, once an Army Air base, was deeded to the city in the 1950s with the stipulation that it would be mostly used for aviation. Any money deriving from leasing land has to go towards airport operations. So the city, facing several years of declining property tax revenue, would not profit directly by allowing development.

And the Federal Aviation Administration is picky about what it allows to be built on airport land; if it is not related to aviation, it cannot be residential and has to be a fixed-term lease. So that has left valuable land, sandwiched between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf, mostly vacant, except for Sharky's on the Pier and a handful of flying schools and airplane-related businesses.

Trying to bring in flying tourists to upscale festivals will not be easy because of the airport's recent past, which includes a council in 2007 that waged legal battles to stop growth and fought with pilot groups. And then there is the airport's 9-11 connection — two of the terrorists trained here.

"There is a hangover, that the ghost of Christmas past haunts this place," said Nick Carlucci, president of Venice Aviation Society Inc., an airport business group. "We need to change that perception to become a friendly, welcoming place."

<p><em>VENICE</em> - City leaders are pinning their hopes for airport development on the "$100 hamburger" economic plan.</p><p>Instead of building a business park, marina or hotel on a 125-acre ribbon of airport land — as called for in earlier years — the council and its economic advisory board decided to focus on marketing the airport as an aviation-friendly place, where leisure pilots will fly in for a $100 hamburger — the true cost of lunch when factoring in jet fuel.</p><p>Federal red tape and the dour state of the local economy means there will be no major development on Venice Municipal Airport land anytime soon.</p><p>It is an issue that has divided the community in the past when plans emerged for a Marriott Hotel in the midst of the land boom. Some nearby residents oppose anything that will bring in more people or more air traffic to an airport that was built in the middle of a residential area before there were homes.</p><p>At a workshop Tuesday to explore options for land that in 2003 was targeted for a business park, the council and its economic advisory board decided to focus on upgrading utilities on the land that has become known as the city's festival grounds, used for the annual Shark's Tooth Festival and a recent Barbecue Bash that lured in flying day-trippers from throughout the state.</p><p>"Organizers are looking for improvements in water, sewer, electrical service," Rozansky said. "But the airport cannot simply make those improvements" without a return on investment.</p><p>Mayor John Holic said that it would be a small investment with a big payoff.</p><p>"All of a sudden wheels start turning," Holic said. We are not going to go from "nothing to a marina" but upgrading the grounds would be a "small step toward future usage."</p><p>Long-term plans for airport land are laden with obstacles. The airport, once an Army Air base, was deeded to the city in the 1950s with the stipulation that it would be mostly used for aviation. Any money deriving from leasing land has to go towards airport operations. So the city, facing several years of declining property tax revenue, would not profit directly by allowing development.</p><p>And the Federal Aviation Administration is picky about what it allows to be built on airport land; if it is not related to aviation, it cannot be residential and has to be a fixed-term lease. So that has left valuable land, sandwiched between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf, mostly vacant, except for Sharky's on the Pier and a handful of flying schools and airplane-related businesses.</p><p>Trying to bring in flying tourists to upscale festivals will not be easy because of the airport's recent past, which includes a council in 2007 that waged legal battles to stop growth and fought with pilot groups. And then there is the airport's 9-11 connection — two of the terrorists trained here.</p><p>"There is a hangover, that the ghost of Christmas past haunts this place," said Nick Carlucci, president of Venice Aviation Society Inc., an airport business group. "We need to change that perception to become a friendly, welcoming place."</p>